While keeping his music on the service, Spotify then confirmed that they would be “removing R Kelly’s music from all Spotify owned and operated playlists and algorithmic recommendations”, seeking to “not actively promote it”. Apple Music and Pandora soon followed and vowed to do the same. This follows in the wake of the #MuteRKelly movement.

However, as Associated Press reports, the week of the band (May 10-May 16) Kelly’s streaming numbers hit 6,676,000 up from his average 6,584,000 weekly streams.

R Kelly

“Frankly it’s not important in this context whether people are listening to his music or not, what’s important is that Spotify is holding itself to the standard that they themselves established and they live up to it,” said co-founder and executive director of the women’s advocacy group UltraViolet, Shaunna Thomas.

Sharethrough (Mobile)

She added: “To argue that these numbers reflect the common consensus about whether people want to be paying for his music and helping him profit off the type of music he creates and the type of person he is, I think it’s very early in the game to suggest that.”

The policy notes that: “When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful (for example, violence against children and sexual violence), it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator”.

In a recent statement, the star said he is “heartbroken” by the allegations, describing himself as “a God-fearing man, a son, a brother, and most importantly a father”.

Kelly went on to claim that the media has “perpetuated… dissected and manipulated these false allegations” in an “attempt to distort my character and to destroy my legacy that I have worked so hard to build”.